College campuses were among the earliest adopters of Internet access. Thanks to Connectivity Wireless Solutions, they could become leaders in wireless coverage over distributed antenna systems (DAS).

"According Nielson's research, 54 percent of 18-24 year olds own a smartphone and 37 percent plan to upgrade to 4G within the next year," said Bryce Bregen, vice president of sales and marketing at Connectivity. "Increased wireless data consumption, and the continuous shift toward an online classroom via mobile devices on higher education campuses are a driving factor for the need to increase wireless coverage."

Distributed antenna systems split a signal’s transmission power into multiple smaller antennas, allowing for more reliable access than a single powerful antenna. Connectivity has covered 26 million square feet of college campuses since 2011.

New deployments of DAS have grown by 20 percent since 2009 on college campuses, according to In Stat. More students are dependent on wireless services instead of landline phones to keep in touch with their relatives.

Students are not just goofing off surfing Facebook, Twitter (News - Alert) or YouTube. More lectures are also being delivered online.

Campuses also want to keep their students safe by sending them alerts. The manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombing suspects in the wake of a shooting at MIT (News - Alert), in particular, shows the necessity of such a network.

The increased volume of visitors during sporting events, and the number of students accessing the Internet during final exam weeks, also strains campus wireless systems.

"It's evident that there will be continuous wireless network usage as more and more mobile devices infiltrate the market,” Bregen siad. “The colleges and universities have to start working on a budget to accommodate the shift in data and voice usage dynamics. This is why we do educational speaking engagements, and attend shows like ACUTA, so we can educate the IT administrators for colleges and universities on their options to fund their DAS projects, and how it will improve communication on campuses for staff, students, visitors, and parents."